


Meeting Pete

by Marmosette



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: "Scholarship" is a euphemism for "intelligence training", Holmes fans should get the reference, Jesus Green actually, Mycroft at uni
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-19
Updated: 2012-05-19
Packaged: 2017-11-05 15:41:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/408138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marmosette/pseuds/Marmosette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arbitrary Aubergine on Tumblr wanted some more of Mycroft at university. I sat him down in Jesus Green, and he did this. Not a lot, but he's still young.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meeting Pete

Tall, young, slender, dark-haired, blue-eyed. Rangy. Strong hands - probably a sportsman. Yes, definitely athletic. He ran easily, scooping a handful of hair off his face. His clothing seemed to be rather better than the average on the green. But oh, dear, now - she was pretty, and he had kissed her. Well, it was university, and these things meant little. And now they would be passing his bench. 

Mycroft let his gaze wander behind the dark glasses. He didn’t like wearing them, but they had uses. They had been suggested as a way to hide eye movements, if one could remember to mask the body language as well. That was a trivial matter, of course. No one had yet noticed that he’d added a reflective coating to the inside of the lenses, which allowed him to watch behind himself as well. He folded his newspaper absently and got to his feet. 

“Oi! Sorry, excuse me... hi.”

Mycroft glanced back over his shoulder, then turned round, facing the pair. “Yes?”

“You’re Mark Holmes, right?”

Mycroft didn’t frown. “Quite close. The name is Mycroft.” He held out his hand. “And you are...?”

“Sorry, yes. Pete Conway. This is my girlfriend, Lisa Matthews.”

Mycroft nodded and took her hand. “Charmed.”

“Sorry to shout at you like that. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Quite all right,” Mycroft shrugged easily. “Something I can do for you?”

“My tutor said you might be interested in sharing a house.”

Mycroft frowned. This didn’t seem very likely. “And your tutor is...?”

“Muriel Parker.”

“Ah.” Mycroft blinked in surprise, and removed the glasses. “I see. Been looking long?”

“Not really. I was happy in the dorms, but...” He raised Lisa’s hand with a sly glance aside at her. “Not everyone was that happy about it.”

“Oh, thank you very much!” Lisa said, slapping at his arm but laughing. “It’s nothing to me if you stay in the dorms. Meg is perfectly happy with you crashing occasionally. She’s got Andrew.”

“Far be it from me to inflict myself on such a delightful arrangement of mutual inter-dependency. I wasn’t actually looking for sharers.”

Conway glanced at him. “Ah. Are you willing to accept?”

“Mm.” Mycroft shrugged noncommittally, turning down the path back toward the town center, with a questioning glance.

“Oh, sorry, are you off? I can always -”

“No, no,” Mycroft smiled, shaking his head, his hands in his pockets. “Join me for a drink?”

“Glad to. That is - Lisa?”

She smiled up at them and shook her head. “I’d love to, my dears, but I’ve got a stack of reading that’s taller than you both. Feel free to stop by later, Pete, but only if you don’t mind watching me read.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, and waved and left.

“Young love,” Mycroft said, glancing after her with a smile. “She doesn’t know, does she.”

Pete looked at him, tipping his head. “Know what?”

“What you’re studying.”

“You know, Parker warned me about you. I’m glad she did.”

“I come with warnings now. How wonderful.”

Pete glanced at him, fighting a smile. “She didn’t go into that level of detail.”

“Is this your way of endearing yourself to me?”

“Sorry. That was a bit difficult to resist, though.”

Mycroft sighed. “I shall have to teach by example, then. So. Why are you interested in renting a room from me?”

“Parker did suggest it. Genuinely. Ask her if you like.”

Mycroft nodded slowly, thinking it over. If Muriel Parker had suggested this, then there would be a reason, and asking her would be admitting failure.

“Are you on a team?”

“Cricket, yes. You play?”

Mycroft shook his head. “No. Not my thing.”

“Not recruited for your body, then.”

This time Mycroft did snap a glare at him. “Perhaps the lady has made a mistake. I really don’t think we’re suited.”

“It isn’t a date, old thing. It’s a business arrangement.”

“Is it.”

“It would be, yes. If you’re interested.”

“I can’t say that I am, so far.”

“Look, I think you may have got the wrong idea here. Or perhaps I have. But Parker seems to think you’d be a good influence on me. Seems to think I can learn from you, and quite a lot. I’m not mad keen on the scholarship, myself, but I understand you’re the full ride.”

“If you aren’t interested in the position, then why have you come to me?” It was usually difficult to establish someone else’s interest in pursuing the darker side of intelligence-gathering, and Mycroft generally didn’t bother. If someone knew of his position, then they must have found out from someone other than himself, and Peter Conway had flatly admitted that he had been told. Referring to the training as a “scholarship” was simply a graceful ruse. 

“I thought you’d be interested.” Pete now seemed genuinely confused. “There’s not going to be a lot of people you’ll be able to ask for cover. You like having the house empty while you’re gone?”

“It hasn’t been a problem so far.”

“You’ve only been here six weeks!”

Mycroft stopped and turned to look at Pete. There were only a few pedestrians around at the back of one of the smaller colleges, and all of them were in pairs or small groups, clearly on their way elsewhere. “Exactly how much have you been told?” Mycroft asked very quietly and calmly.

“All Muriel said was that you were here on scholarship, but that you were the full ride, and we might benefit from sharing. Maybe she meant something else. I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just trying to take her suggestion.”

Mycroft nodded slowly, frowning. “All right. We’ll proceed with what we know. You’re studying engineering with a concentration on architecture, your family is well-connected, you’ve been on the county XI for two years in spite of a disappointing season the first year. Lisa doesn’t know that your last partner was male, but you are monogamous. And as a suggestion, he may be early in the morning, but if you take Hardwicke, you’ll find him much more interested in iconoclasts. Bakerson is good for the classics, but perhaps not quite right for an ambitious young man with one eye on defense contracting.”

“Why did you pretend you didn’t know who I am, then?”

“I didn’t.”

“You memorized my dossier, though.”

“I read it off you.”

“Fuck.” Pete rubbed his face. “You’re serious.”

“Would you be more comfortable if I smiled?”

“Not really. I don’t know. I’m starting to see why you’re on the full scholarship.”

Mycroft smiled. “And what, I wonder, does Muriel think I will learn from you?”

“I gather you’re not exactly strapped for cash.”

“Not really, no.”

“Connections?”

“Sufficient, and growing.”

“And by sufficient...”

“Upper and middle, titled, unmentionable, foreign and domestic.”

“Ah. Working class?”

Mycroft pursed his lips. “Not directly, no.”

“Possible, then. How about in town?”

“Some,” Mycroft admitted.

“You don’t exactly mix with the usual, do you?” Pete asked, smiling a bit now himself.

“Enough. Sufficient. I prefer solitude, but one cannot analyse a vacuum.”

“But you’re not exactly an introvert.”

“No.”

“Well, at a guess, I’d say she’s hoping I’ll broaden your contacts. My father has quite a circle, but it isn’t quite the same level as you are. More working class, business, captains of industry. And sorry about the crack earlier - I didn’t mean to imply you were hideous. But you seem quite at home with the intellectual, and maybe she’s hoping you’ll take more interest in the physical side of things. It’s not like you’re going to slide right into the top of the food chain straight out of uni.” He paused, and frowned. “Is it?”

Mycroft shrugged easily. “Certainly now, all I can do is make suggestions, and absorb what I can.”

“Meaning you’d suggest they slot you behind a desk in analysis, but until then you’re going to learn more than is possible about how to beat them at their own game.”

This finally made Mycroft grin. “I would never say such a thing.”

“Maybe that’s what I’m supposed to teach you, then.”


End file.
